Happy Easter Monday!

Yesterday, ‘C’ and I came back from a lovely weekend at our friend’s country house about a 2 hours drive from Mexico City, situated in a little quaint Mexican village called Malinalco. Although it was meant to be a relaxed weekend by the pool – there was far more drinking and eating than I had anticipated! This combined with an incredibly hectic 2 weeks in Peru (which I promise to write about soon) has left me broken.

I woke up this morning flu ridden and absolutely drained – and in desperate need of both vegetables and some comfort food. So for lunch I rustled up this tomato and spinach spaghetti, and it was exactly what the Dr. ordered. 

Tomatoes have the highest level of lycopene content of any fruit or vegetable, and when it is heated up instead of diminishing in value the lycopene actually increases. This is a good thing as lycopene is an incredible anti-oxidant that helps fight against cancerous cell formation as well as other kinds of health complications and diseases – mix this together with the benefits of Popeye’s spinach and I reckon you have yourself a robust plate of goodness!

Again this was something that I just put together, so I have no real measurements but it’s so straightforward I am sure you can figure it out if you would ever want to make it! ‘

Ingredients

• 2 generous handful of cherry tomatoes – sliced in half
• olive oil
• 2 – 4 cloves of garlic – diced
• Salt and Pepper for seasoning
• 1 large handful of baby spinach – sliced in strips
• 1 portion of spaghetti

Directions

Over a very low heat, slowly heat a generous amount of olive oil and place the sliced tomatoes face down.

Throw in the diced garlic and stir. The tomatoes will slowly lose shape and the liquid will thicken, keep stirring. You can help the sauce along by ‘squidging’ the tomatoes with your spoon (a very satisfying feeling!)

Season with salt and pepper and taste. If you find that the tomatoes are too acidic in flavour, sprinkle a bit of sugar as this enhances its natural sweetness.

Add the sliced baby spinach, stir together with the tomatoes and garlic and let it wilt.

Then add your portion of spaghetti (I had left over spaghetti in the fridge from the night before) stir and make sure the pasta gets a good coating of all the juices.

Serve immediately.

Note: If you want to make this dish even more healthy, instead of using white pasta – which I did – use a whole wheat brown pasta. Also this dish would go so well with a generous amount of fresh basil!